End of the Year

Cue music "It's the end of the school as we know it". and cut. No more work for five weeks. Unless I get one of my thrice yearly freelance calls. I found myself singing under my breath today. It was a song from my fair lady with a twist. Instead of singing 'I've grown accostomed to her face.' I was subvocalizing 'I've grown accustomed to this place. Like breathing out and breathing in.' Anyway a good day was had by all and we won't see them for six weeks. Did I mention that it will be five weeks until we have to go back? yeah, relax, enjoy, and then back to work. Just one of the perks..... 11 to 15 weeks of vacation each year. Until I write again. Later.

Summer School

When I was growing up I remember that only the students in jepardy of failing went to summer school. Anymore, that is no longer the case. There are still recomended or strongly recomended classes offered for Math and Reading, however there is also a buffet of choices for the acedemically non-challenged. Study dogs and cats and what it means to be a pet owner. Study the history of chocolate and explore it's many varieties. Study lifetime sports or ewey gooy science. The list goes on for a page. The other unique part of the district where I live is that the summer school program is part of the child hunger feeding program. Any child (wether they are enrolled or not) and their parent can join us for breakfast and lunch at no charge, and because of this grant all students and staff are provided with free meals as well. While part of me cringes at the thought of government waste, my heart melted this morning when I was monitoring the bus line. I asked a student, "are you hungry?" The student responded, "yes, I didn't eat last night." and skipped with joy to the breakfast line. Maybe it's a shotgun approach when all that is needed is a small pistol, but in this one instance, it worked. For eighteen more days, these students will be garunteed two meals a day and so will I.

School Days

One of the benefits of being an educational interpreter is getting to look forward to the end of the year. Tonight I will take my boys camping. We will pitch a tent, light a fire, and fish in the lake. On Monday they won't have to wake up until their eyes open. For me, summer school calls. But it is a change of pace and a welcome month of work. I will admit that some freelance interpreters or VRS interpreters have a more diverse job, however I trade a little routine for summers and holidays and time with my family. Have yourself a great day and don't forget to stop and smell the roses. With twenty rose bushes in my yard that's an easy thing to do if I just remember to slow down. Until next time. DW

Family

The last few weeks have been a blur of good times and I look at this blog and realize that I have been neglecting it. If this were a person, they would feel slighted; however, as this is only a place for me to express my thoughts only my ego is slighted. How do you slight your own ego?
Last Friday I went and saw a play about relationships. The boy/girl kind. Tonight I went and saw my sons in a play and a chior. A different relationship. The thing is everything is relative and they are my relatives. I'm tired and this doesn't make any sense. I'll probably change it in the morning. Maybe not. I might just leave it up to show how my brain works when I'm ready for bed. Adios and later gator and all that jazz.

The Generosity of Friends

I wanted to share with you all about the generosity of some of people with whom I attend Church. Our youth group sent twelve contestants in nine different events to the district Fine Arts competition in Springfield. They competed in a drum solo, trio, chior, human video, small ensamble, large ensamble, puppets, and two male solos. All the twelve of the students were invited to the National competition in Orlando, Florida, in six of the events. They decided not to have 'fundraisers' to pay for their trip to Orlando. Instead, they have been ministering out to other congregations all around the area. The impact on the churches and the students lives has been amazing to watch. The cost of the trip for twenty-one people would have been around six thousand dollars; however, two families in the church who own time shares have donated their points, effectively cutting the cost in half. They were able to secure three two bedroom condos for the youth group. One is two miles from the convention center and the others are five miles. I realize that this may not have the same wow factor as someone writing a huge check, but in a church of about twenty-five families; this to me is amazing. God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.

Life on the sidelines.

One of the side effects of being an interpreter is an accumulation of knowledge. Not all of it is useful. We learn the details of the personal lives of friends and strangers. Things they wouldn't share with their own family, the interpreter is privy to. We are in a unique possition to see things that others can't and yet because of this uniqueness are asked to never input into the process any of the conclusions our outside view has afforded. In my life over the last ten years, I have been "part" of ball clubs, football teams, wrestling, art, drama, anime, and various other organizations. I have also had the opportunity to observe teachers. I remember the best, and the worst. The average tend to get lost in the shuffle. Having been through middle and high school more times than most people gives me an interesting perspective. Even though I am an adult in the building, because I am often the 'voice' of the teen or preteen, the students grow comfortable with their friends and begin to discuss everyday life. In the ten years I have learned a few things. Students haven't really changed. Adult expectations have changed a lot. Zero Tolerance has made the school a safer place. I have yet to see a knife brought to school: However the boys know how to gossip and stab each other in the back better than when I was in school. At least they are not trying to stab you in the front anymore. Some things are better and some are worse but school is still teachers trying to teach and students trying to skate by or do their best. I'm starting my fourth passage through the teen years. I wonder how much I will see this time.

Denial

There is in all of us a desire to improve or at least maintain. In college I learned that one of the five stages of grieving is denial. As an interpreter I ran into this issue head on with a late deafened individual. In a role reversal from what is normally seen with an infant or toddler diagnosis, the family accepted that their relative would be Deaf. The individual refused to accept it. In spite of doctors, therapist, experts, family, and friends their resolve was unshaken. Being a Christian I am used to seeing someone wait for the 'Lord's report' before accepting the doctors verdict. Healing is generally the rule, not the exception for most of my friends. This denial was not based on an understanding of God's power, but was simply an unwillingness to accept the facts presented. I was and still am baffled. This post isn't about how I learned some truth about life. I just wanted to share that people are human and will not always behave in what the observer would percieve to be a logical way. Bet some of you already knew that, but it still puzzles me.